


Drawer Four

by idanato



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Hopeful Ending, Medical Examiner AU, Morgue setting, meet creepy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:49:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28671048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idanato/pseuds/idanato
Summary: Mercedes has been searching for her brother for years, and now she needs to know if she's found him in the morgue. Who is the body in drawer #4?(Written for Mercibert Weekend Day 3: Healing)
Relationships: Mercedes von Martritz/Hubert von Vestra
Comments: 24
Kudos: 42
Collections: Mercedes/Hubert Weekend





	Drawer Four

The dead silence of Hubert’s workplace was broken by a ding. He paused his paperwork and listened again, sure that it was his mind playing tricks upon him. The bell did not ring again, but there was a sigh, the heavy kind. Hubert checked his watch in confusion, drop off didn’t usually occur so close to a shift change. Either someone was running late, was exceptionally punctual, or they were here to do an identification. Hubert’s guts went as cold as the bodies in their chilled drawers. He didn’t usually handle body IDs; that was usually overseen by a detective or social worker, not him, not the medical examiner with no bedside manner.

Hubert got up and peered out of his office at the front window of the receiving area. A woman was standing there looking like this was the last place she wished to be. She was in colorful scrubs and a big cozy cardigan and appeared as if she had just come off of a long shift herself. Her hair was short cropped, practical and out of the way, and looked like it took no time at all to style.

“Can I help you?” asked Hubert as he pushed up his glasses up his long nose and approached the little window. His eyes could not help but flash over her picking apart all her little details and trying to form a story of who she was, just like when he did an autopsy.

The woman forced a smile, although no one was ever really happy to come to the morgue. “Um yes, I’m supposed to be meeting Detective von Aegir here to identify a body.” Her blue eyes were rimmed in red as if she’d already done her crying over it.

“Right,” said Hubert as he pulled out his cell phone. Sure enough he had four missed messages from Ferdinand apologizing about traffic. “It looks like he’s running late, do you want to wait for him inside?” He felt a nervous rush for having even offered that option. He should have insisted she reschedule.

She checked her own phone in its glittery cream case decorated with cartoon slices of cake, and then sighed once more, “This isn’t something that can really be put off, so yes I’ll wait.”

Hubert entered the key code to open the door and ushered her into the quiet morgue. He hated this part. Whenever a body was being identified Hubert did his best to hide out in his office unless he absolutely had to come to explain some finding or cause of death. He was definitely not used to waiting with a potential family member of the deceased while their contact got caught in rush hour. Processing the dead never bothered him, but to observe mourning was a bridge too far. Perhaps it was because he felt next to nothing when his own father died when he was pretty sure he ought to feeling something other than relief.

“I’m Hubert,” he said as he made sure the door shut all the way. It was not as if anyone ever tried to sneak out but many of these bodies were evidence and it would be a disaster for someone to sneak in and tamper with one.

“Mercedes,” said the woman as she followed him down the dim hall towards the break room.

“Were you named after the car company?” Hubert cringed as the words came out of his mouth. Small talk was really not his forte.

Mercedes made a small sound as if he was definitely not the first person to ask that. “Uh, yes unfortunately. I usually go by Mercie with friends. It fits better.”

 _Great start Hubert._ “Do you work here in the hospital?” asked Hubert. That was a much safer feeling topic of conversation. Most people liked talking about themselves, and the more words she shared the less he had to.

“Oh, yes, I’m a pediatrician,” said Mercedes with a small amount of joy to her voice. “I actually just came from work.”

He set the break room kettle to boil as she took a seat. Her scrubs did scream pediatrics with cheery cartoon characters he wouldn’t pretend to recognize. It made her look rather cute and nonthreatening, which he imagined was good for someone who regularly vaccinated children with big scary needles. Hubert’s scrubs were just plain black. No one here needed cheering from him.

“It looks like you have a choice of black tea or something herbal,” said Hubert as he rooted through Marianne’s tea cannister. She worked the night shift and he got the impression she was even worse around people than he was.

“Something herbal I suppose,” said Mercedes. “I work tomorrow, I can’t really be up all night.” She rubbed her face as she waited and Hubert could not help but note the dark circles beneath her eyes. He knew a fellow workaholic when he saw one. She checked her phone again. “I guess tonight is going to be another drive-thru dinner,” she declared in a self defeated tone.

“I do that a lot too,” said Hubert as he leaned against the counter. Often it was the only option if he wanted to eat before nine.

Mercedes gave him a half smile, “You don’t look like you eat quite as much fast food as I do.” She was a little overweight and clearly curvier than her scrubs were cut for. From her tone it was apparent she was trying to be at peace with it, but Hubert dared not agree with her assessment. She looked cuddly and nice, and the exact type of doctor he’d trust his hypothetical very much non-existent children to. In a similar way, Hubert looked like he belonged in the basement morgue — a little too lean, not enough sun, a permafrown — and definitely not patient facing.

“Seeing what people die from is always good reminder to work out,” said Hubert off handedly as he dropped the teabag into its waiting mug. Mercedes went quiet and Hubert realized he ought not talk about the myriad of things that killed people with someone here to identify a body. Goddess he was terrible at this sort of thing. “Do you mind if I ask who you’re expecting to find here? Maybe we can just do the ID and you can get on with your evening.”

“Oh,” said Mercedes in a soft, breathy voice. “Well, I’m, I’m looking for my brother.” She looked down at her hands and played with the buttons on her cardigan, “We were separated when we were children. Our parents had a really ugly divorce. Emile went with his father and I went with our mother. But, when he was sixteen he ran away from home, and I’ve been searching for him ever since.”

Hubert had really only been aiming for a physical description so he could figure out which body she was supposed to be looking at but he let her go on. She took a deep breath, “I filed a missing persons report a few years ago, that’s how I got in touch with Detective von Aegir. So far I’ve learned that Emile was in a youth detention for a little bit, and he was homeless for a time.” She paused and pulled up a picture on her phone, a mugshot to show to him, “This is the only recent picture I have of him, unfortunately.”

Hubert stared at the scowling young man who looked like the pleasant doctor before him in many ways. His hair was much longer, and his eyes were much more intense, but there was a strong family resemblance. Hubert knew exactly which body she had come in to look at, the one in drawer four. He’d come in over the weekend.

If it was her brother, there would be a lot of paper work to fill out with Ferdinand. If it wasn’t though, she would probably be quite relieved to have it over with. Strangely Hubert wanted to give her that peace of knowing, because waiting had to be torture. “I think I know who the detective wanted you to look at, if you’d like to see.”

Mercedes paled and then nodded. Hubert made sure to pour out the now piping hot water into the mug just in case she needed it later.

Mercedes followed him in silence towards the rows and rows of little metal doors behind which the bodies were stored. Drawer four was occupied by a very tall and built up young man who had died of an overdose and was found in a public park. His wallet and phone had likely been stolen, and so far they’d yet to identify him. Hubert had a good memory for autopsies and in this one he’d found nothing of note. No tattoos, no distinctive scars or birthmarks, and one pierced ear that had been allowed to heal and shut. It was hard to figure out who someone was with so little to go on.

Hubert gloved up, undid the latch and carefully extended out the metal table. The white shroud did not cover the tall man’s toes but at least his face was obscured at first pass. Hubert looked at Mercedes, “Are you ready for this? We can still wait for Detective von Aegir if you’d prefer.”

“No, I need to see, I don’t want to keep drawing things out,” whispered Mercedes as she played with a delicate little Sothis emblem at her neck.

He carefully pulled back the shroud and Mercedes’ hand shot up to cover her mouth. It was a tough thing to look upon the dead even when one was practiced, and especially in the harsh bright florescent lighting of this place. Hubert lingered and wondered if she was reacting positively or negatively. She seemed absolutely frozen in place.

Mercedes lowered her hand to her chest as her shock faded, “It’s not him.”

Hubert looked again, and then back at Mercedes, “Are you sure? Are you aware of any markings—”

“It’s not him,” she repeated, this time with relief. It was apparent in everything about her from her posture to her facial expression. A huge weight had been pulled up and off of her, leaving behind a much happier person in place.

Hubert pulled the shroud back up and worked to put everything back in order. “If you’ll consent, it would be helpful to submit a saliva sample to rule out any genetic relationship, just in case.”

“Of course,” said Mercedes, still seeming high on the revelation that it was not in fact her brother on that slab. Hubert continued to put things away and then discarded his gloves and washed up. He gestured for her to follow him back to the break room. Somehow the hall did not seem quite as dark and the break room was bursting with the floral scent of the over brewed tea.

“So what happens if a body goes unclaimed?” asked Mercedes as she filled out the paperwork for the DNA test.

“It depends, if there’s an investigation we typically keep them for the duration. If there’s no foul play we cremate them after a certain period of time and bury them in a city plot,” said Hubert. He was in the practice of jogging through the graveyard on weekends and just stopping for a few moments at the anonymous grave site. It was not a popular spot, but it was peaceful enough all things considered.

“I realize my interest in this sort of thing might come off as a little morbid,” she said apologetically. “I really loved taking anatomy in med school, but that was just one semester. Being a medical examiner seems difficult.”

“Oh, no not really, sometimes there’s a challenging pathology—”

“I meant emotionally,” said Mercedes.

“Oh, yes, I suppose,” said Hubert as he thought it over. Even if no one else remembered the unclaimed people who traveled across his tables, he often did. They came back in punctuated memories, the dead dancing in his head, often triggered at random. He’d see a tattoo and remember one he’d had to document. It hurt to read the names of family adorned on the skin, and not being able to find them to tell them that this person they were once connected to was gone. Worst of all though were the people who were very much all on their own that were never claimed because no one was looking for them. He thought about the occupant of drawer four and if anyone would ever come to identify them. Hubert shook that thought away and got out the little kit with the long cotton swabs. “If you’ll just open your mouth so I can get the sample,” said Hubert as he broke the sterile seal. People generally shied away from discussions about his work, and he knew it was far too dark and depressing for most people to listen to.

“Usually people buy me dinner first before sampling my saliva,” suggested Mercedes, clearly now in a much better mood than when she came in. She opened up her mouth wide and Hubert was left to wonder blindly if she was flirting with him or just reveling in her relief.

For the first time in a long while, he found himself wishing she was interested. Hubert wasn’t in the business of going on many dates, but he also wasn’t used to fielding questions about his work beyond polite introductions. He swabbed the inside of her cheek and then broke the stick off into the vial and placed the label upon it. The worst that would happen if he flirted back was that she’d leave and not come back like everyone else who filtered through this morgue, “Well I could buy you dinner after.”

“Hmm?” Mercedes picked up her teacup and looked at him earnestly and not understanding.

Hubert tried to think fast on his feet, “You were joking.” Not flirting, joking, of course.

“Are you in the habit of picking up women at the morgue?” She was teasing him now and it made his blood run hot in his ears.

“Clearly not, or I’d be better at it,” said Hubert as he placed her sample in a little bag to send off to the lab.

Mercedes watched him silently while smiling. “Why not? As long as you don’t mind me bugging you with more questions,” said Mercedes as she sipped the herbal tea.

He in fact did not mind at all.

**Author's Note:**

> ~ ah the joy of posting niche rare pairs and unusual settings literally only the author might enjoy ~


End file.
